


Withering Away

by Anima_Lira



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: F/M, Master & Servant, Time - Freeform, Unrequited Love, Yokai!Natsume
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:20:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23183164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anima_Lira/pseuds/Anima_Lira
Summary: "Say human, are you in pain?"
Relationships: Madara "Nyanko-sensei" & Natsume Takashi, Matoba Seiji & Natsume Takashi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

For the first time in his life, Seiji was afraid of death.

The 18 year old student had made the decision to take a break from all the pressure that seemed to have settled down on his shoulders. (He had decided to skip class. That was all to it.)

With the afterthought that Nanase would probably kill him for this, he climbed out of his room, leaved the mansion on silent feet, guarded by two of his Shikis and the knife in his sleeve.

He made his way into one of the many forests, wanting to change his mood and overcome the heavy thoughts inside him. To bad that he had forgotten to take an umbrella, it was way to hot today.

While he went through the villages, saw the children playing in mud and water, his heart (almost) ached a (tiny) bit.

Due to his parents who had a certain reputation to keep, he hadn't been allowed to live his childhood like a proper child. Not that he hadn't done it anyway - how many times had he hushed away in one of the oh so important meetings of those old men, sneaked away, just to return with dirty clothes and a wide grin? - but it made him sad (a very tiny bit) all the same.

He wasn't doing great with cheering himself up so far.

The older people who knew him, bowed to him, greeted him with true or false smiles. He also met other students, but they didn't even bother, avoided him, even changed paths. (And he even counted to one of the most handsome boys in his class, how rude of them!)

At last the raven reached the cool forest; tired and ready for a break.

Yokai that saw him, hid at once, didn't make any problems for him. It would be wonderful to live in this world if humans would behave like this too...

Seiji sat down by a tree, next to a huge lake, closed his eyes. The forest really was so comfortably cool, inviting him to just take a nap. The only thing he could wish for right now would be water.

Maybe, he thought, he should've takenNatori with him.

He had heard that the other was around for some family business he wouldn't pretend to care about, so it would've been convenient. The boy was a pleasant company after all, easy to embarrass and always honest. Surly it would've been easy to make him bring water and food, so he wouldn't have to starve right now.

But even like that, it was so quiet and peaceful in the forest, almost as if it wanted him to relax, just forget everything for a moment.

"Uhm... Excuse me?"

Then again, peace and his name weren't very compatible anyway.

Still tired, the raven slowly opened his eyes, wanting to have a good look at the Yokai who dared to annoy him right now.

Instead, his eyes met with the one of a boy in school uniform, who didn't even seem to see the two Shiki ready to attack him at any moment.  


He was obviously embarrassed to have to talk to him, moved from one foot to the other. The raven nodded once, allowed him to go on.

"I got lost. Can you explain how to get out of the forest again?"

What would've happened if he had just said no at that time, closed his eyes again?

It really wasn't his problem that the boy had gone lost in the woods, he should've thought about getting out before getting in anyway.

The sign on his uniform made clear that he was just one year younger than himself, still old enough to take responsibility for his own actions.

Despite that he lifted his arm, pointed behind him.

"Go from here straight ahead, and then right, once you've crossed the bridge. You will come to a village then. Be sure to hurry up and leave before dusk. This place can be quite dangerous at that time."

Yokai were drawn by the smell of a human - it was even stronger if the person had spiritual powers - and would look to see if he/she would be worth to eat, he was taught. Hadn't stop him from running around at night tough.

Bowing, the boy thanked him. Then, a grin made its way on his face, far to wide to be human.   


Seiji, who, already sinking into memories, had turned away again, immediately wanted to grab his knife reflexively, but froze when the white-haired suddenly patted his head. How could his shiki allow this to happen? Where they that stupid? Hadn't they understood yet?!

"Your directions helped me a lot, as a thank you, I'll let you go this time. Now better get out of here before I come back and it becomes _really_ dangerous."

His subordinates finally reacted, far too slowly and far too _late_. The yokai disappeared at once, leaving nothing behind but the feeling of still being patted like some favored pet.

Angry with himself and the whole day, the black-haired really started to wish that he had taken his bow with him. Or paper. Or anything! Since he hadn't, he should leave it at that for today. But he was far to angry, far to enraged to just let the humiliation go, so he improvised.

Throwing everything he had been told by the older ones away (why should he listen to them anyway? He was far stronger than them, there was no need to keep to the rules of the weak and stupid), the young man ordered his shiki to prepare a trap, big enough to encircle the whole area, made a plan to capture the yokai who had insulted him so much.

The trap was set quickly (of course, why shouldn't it be?), all he had to do now was to wait for the white-haired demon.

And he really took his time.

It wasn't until dawn (Seiji was about to leave, even angrier - at himself, mostly - than before), that the demon reappeared, an angry expression on his face and apparently deep in thoughts.

Much to his bad luck, because once the raven rushed off, ramming his knife into his side, the yokai could do nothing but stagger back - straight into the magic circle.

The trap worked immediately (of course it did, even without anything to assure it), but the screams the demon made were no satisfaction for Seiji, not at all. It didn't sound as if the white-haired was in _real_ pain.

Why wasn't he suffering? Why wasn't he suffering the pain for the shame he had brought?!

Once the yokai finally had no strength left to keep himself on his feet, had to be held by his shiki (the trap didn't work for them, because they were his), Seiji stepped forward, took a swing and hit him in the face with full force.

And again. And again. Then, he pulled his chin up, forced him to look up, directly into the eyes of his tormentor.

"And? Do you still believe it could be dangerous for someone as weak as me? Do you still believe that I should go away as fast as I can?!"

He wasn't interested in exorcising the demon in front of him (tough he should do it anyway, since spirits had the habit of becoming even more insolent than before if you let them go), he just wanted to see him beg for forgiveness, for mercy.

Instead, the white-haired spat blood (directly) onto his feet, laughed through his heavy breathing, as if that all had been nothing to him.

"I like you! With such an easy-to-anger personality, it certainly won't be boring with you around - yes, I think I'll keep you too."

Without giving him time to process what was said just now, the white-haired freed himself and tore his shiki to pieces, just like that.

Seiji couldn't even move to grab his knife again, faster than he could see, the yokai grabbed his throat and lifted him up a little, making him gasp for air in the process.

"Don't bother",

the other said almost gently (how disgusting) before throwing him to the ground, still choking the air out of his lungs.

How?! How was that possible? In this forest wasn't a demon with such power, there couldn't be one! His knife, he needed - he needed air!

Grinning down at him, the white-haired waited until his hand, which wanted to grab his knife and stab, was on the floor, had no strength left. His head hurt, everything begun to feel heavy. He needed...

When the hand around him finally loosed, Seiji did his best to not gasp too desperately for air - not with great success.

The demon, still hovering above him, looked confident of victory and satisfied, as if he had just tamed a wild dog. This was probably how he felt - hadn't he talked about wanting to keep him?

As if he would allow this - who was this yokai to want to own him?!

"Get - get off of me."

"You still dare to give orders?"

The yokai immediately squeezed again, leaned down to him. It was the perfect opportunity now - this time he knew how to react, lifted the knife at once, ready to strike down.

But at the same moment the other's second hand caught his wrist, squeezing it too.

"I've already told you that you don't have to bother, little thing - you don't have a chance anyway. "

His wrist was about to break, but everything inside him was refusing to drop his knife.

He would not submit to a yokai. No way.

The other chuckled.

"So cute... Calm down now, I won't kill you. I will take your name from you and make you to one of my unwilling subordinates. But before that",

his neck was released, and again, the black-haired could do nothing but greedily take in the air.

The demon carefully ran a few fingers over his throat, probably staring in confusion at the bruises he had just created.

"But before that, I'll have a taste of what I'm sparing. Take it, you can't change it anyway."

With that he sank his teeth into the boy's shoulder, causing a pain that almost robbed him of consciousness.

For the first time in his life, Seiji was afraid of death - what would happen now? He couldn't fight back! That had never happened before, he didn't know what to do!

But before his overbearing fear could overtake him, the yokai let go of him, crying out in alarm, as if he had just burned himself.

"You... you're a human!"

_...What? _

"...Are you stupid? That was more than obvious!"

Even if it really wasn't the best idea in his situation, the black-haired couldn't help but make fun of the demon's long line. If he would be crying in fear any moment now anyway, he could at least be as proud of it as it could be.

"I see... the fight is invalid then."

The demon jumped off of him, got to his knees and lowered his head to the ground.

"Forgive my ridicule, human child, I didn't mean to harm you that much. Your name is yours again. Tough... it seems to me that your life will end today anyway. It's getting dark after all."

_Forgive your ridicule, was it?_

He could swear that the other was grinning beneath his white hair.

But he hadn't much time to progress that, the pain in his shoulder getting more and more intense. His blood would draw the attention of other small, worthless spirits and if his luck would go on like that, he would be unable to do defend himself while they ate him away, slowly, bite by bite.

_You need to get up, now!_

He tried to push himself up through the pain, ignoring the chuckling demon that still sat next to him, but the pain brought him down again immediately, he had to suppress a whimper. It hurt. It hurt so much, like his shoulder was on fire, burning away while still attached to all his nerves.

"Say human, are you in pain?"

_Get up. Don't waste your time with answering him, get out of here!_

"Get lost."

He was the heir to a clan that had survived countless generations, he wouldn't lose consciousness because of a damn bite! He pushed himself up once more, got to his knees, managed to keep balance even through the pain. Just a bit more, he would get home step by step. He could collapse there. Just a bit more time.

"Huh? Was that an order?"

The upcoming fear almost brought him back on the ground again, but he ignored it, scrambled to his feet - ignored the red, his sleeve was covered in by now. That was nothing, he was overreacting. A single bite wouldn't cause death (at least if it wasn't poisonous), he knew that - he couldn't help the shivering that overtook his body anyway.

_Ignore him. One step after the other, just leave._

He started to walk, moved forward, slowly getting his breath back under control. The way back home in this condition would be quite a pain, without any doubt. Maybe he should break into some random house to call for someone to pick him up. Maybe he should just ask for a phone to call, that would probably cause less problems in the end.

"Oi, don't ignore me, I asked you something!"

He was grabbed from behind, brought to an halt - and immediately was on the floor again, crying out in pain. His shoulder, it hurt! He flinched back when the demon reached out to him another time, was afraid to be hurt again.

"Stay away!"

Flinching didn't help his wound though, just brought even more pain. He cried out again, felt how his stomach turned inside up; the only reason why he hadn't thrown up by now was because he hadn't eat anything this day yet. It hurt...

"Well, don't forget that you attacked first, human, I only defended myself."

As if, he'd enjoyed the last part far to much for that.

"I only attacked because you threatened me after I gave you directions!"

The hand reached out for him slowly fell back, the white-haired just looked at him, mustered him through his inhumanly green eyes.

"...I guess you're right, at least in that regard. Will you ask for my help then?"

"Scat."

So the demon who looked like he could be one of his classmates didn't seem to have any intentions to harm him further. Great. He had to get away, leave the forest, before other spirits would find him. But he was grabbed again, forced to look the other in the face.

"Don't be stupid. Do you really want me to leave you behind like this?"

The grin had vanished from the spirits face, he looked almost concerned now. Yes, Seiji wanted the other to leave him alone, so he could stop shivering and get up already. He needed to _calm down_ and it wouldn't help if the very being that kept him shivering was going to stay any longer in his sight.

But he couldn't even wriggle himself out of the other's single hand, despite how hard he tried. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back without passing out at least once, he would need time to calm down again.

"It's not so hard, you know? Asking for help when you can't do something alone-"

"Shut up! Shut up!"

Maybe he shouldn't shout at that demon. The arrogant (dangerous) creature in front of him had made it clear that it didn't think much of it.

It would undoubtedly be better for him if he just stepped over his pride and asked for help, the yokai didn't seem to want to hurt humans, otherwise he would probably no longer be alive.

How many times shiki had saved their master from being eaten away by other yokai? It wasn't so odd for an exorcist to be saved by spirits - but it was humiliating if it wasn't a _shiki_ , wasn't a familiar. They would laugh about him, laugh about the Matoba Clan if they would ever find out. The heir almost dying because he bit off more than he could chew? Maybe some would grieve (maybe not) but it would be accepted without a second glance.

But being brought back by the very yokai that he'd tried to fight, was just pathetic. How would he ever be able to look them in the eyes again?!

Unfazed by the inner tumult of him, the white-haired waited, silent and looking down at him, as if to encouraging the idea of being mocked for the rest of his life.

But despite knowing all that, the boy was still shivering, making himself probably as small as possible, not really wanting the other to just leave him here for the other spirits to feast on. He was afraid. Afraid of being eaten, afraid of being a disgrace to his Clan. He didn't want to die like that.

"Hey, are you still awake? Hey, answer!"

He had made his decision. Nanase would definitively kill him for that.

 _Swallow it down_ , he called to himself, trying to remember how to speak, how to properly form words. _It's not that difficult. Come on._

"Y-you're right, please don't leave me here. I was afraid of you and became insolent. I'm sorry. Please don't leave."

With another leap, gently and weightlessly, as if floating, the yokai landed on his feet again, gazing down at him, no trace of the urge to eat him up. (Since when had he knelt beside him? Hadn't he been standing?) This time the hand reached out for him was offering help, wanted to pull him up.

Seiji; far to weak to even pretend anymore, averted his eyes, just took the very hand that had strangled him moments ago, let himself be pulled up and held on weak, useless legs.

"Say, human child, you won't die from something like that, will you? Before I bring you home, I want you to bring me to one of those places where they sell sake. Do you know a place like that near your home?"

Sake. So the yokai had asked him directions because he had wanted to buy/steal sake from humans? He was about to ruin his whole legacy because of some alcohol?

Weren't there any special springs of sake here in this damn forest?!

Instead of asking, Seiji nodded once, adding that there was no need to go to a shop, because there were more than enough barrels of the best sake in the area in his family's basement. (Not that he ever tried it. After all, he wasn't allowed to.)

The face of the white-haired brightened at once, he almost let go of him in excitement.

"Then it's decided! Mizusu!"

A bunch of tiny bells, out of nowhere, answered to the other's call. Shortly after, a huge figure with a horse's face landed on the ground, looking at them with its big eyes.

"Natsume-sama, your master has been calling you for hours now. He will eat you if you don't appear with the sake before the moon has set."

The demon's face grew serious immediately, he hissed at the horse like a cat might do.

"I tried it! But none of the stores I passed were worthy! Anyway, take us to this human's home, Mizusu."

"What do you want with an exorcist of the Matoba Clan, Natsume-sama? Are you finally planning on braking your silly promise-"

"A child of the Matoba Clan? The famous family that has been dancing on my master's tail for centuries?!"

The yokai grabbed his chin, was now looking closely at his face, as if it would tell him something his tongue couldn't.

Seiji didn't fight it, was now almost too light-headed to even think clearly, his thoughts blurry from pain and numbness. _Stay awake._

The fox-like eyes of the other curled into slits. Finally, he grinned, let go of him.

"I would never break my promise. I could've given this lovely girl the whole world for saving my life. Matoba child, I give you a well meant advice: Take care of your eyes."

With that he turned away, motioned for him to climb on the horse. Almost falling again but to stubborn to ask for help another time, he did.

Although it was the first time that Seiji was in the air like this, he couldn't enjoy it at all, tried his best to come up with a good explanation (that wouldn't make a foul out of him) for all this. It was night by now, there wasn't any assembly tonight, no one outside his clan-members and family to see them. So the only problem would be the servants of those who followed him.

His head hurt, thinking hurt. He should stop...

They reached the villa, the yokai got his share of the deal (it went down surprisingly well, as if no one had seen the huge beast that landed in front of the mansion) and disappeared as silently as he came, only betrayed by the soft sound of various bells.

Once they were gone, the 18 year old boy, future head of the whole clan, collapsed in the backyard, had to lay in bed for the next week, should recover from, as Nanase stated, being a reckless idiot.

He slept a lot during this time, dreamed of a yokai that wanted to ask for the way. He also dreamed of Natori who climbed into his room through the window, sat with him for a while and then left just as quickly. Maybe the latter had really happened (maybe it was just the wishful thinking of a sick child), he wasn't sure.

All in all, nothing that happened had serious consequences at all, not a single soul knew what exactly had happened at this time in the forest, and he had made sure that every spirit knew that he wanted it to stay like that.

And although Seiji was determined to not forget this incident and the humiliation it had brought with it, the experience was easily overwhelmed in the following six years, filled with work, stress, various gods and far to many people who belived they were one.

Eventually then, the day came when the 24 year old head of the Matoba Clan, had made the decision to take a break from all the pressure that seemed to have settled down on his shoulders. (He had decided to skip work. That was all there was to it. It felt wonderful.)

And even though everything today was so similar to the one six years ago - the children in the mud, the people in the village, the tireless heat - the raven only realized it when he thought about how thirsty he was, how he should've taken provisions, at least water, with him.

The corners of his mouth went up, automatically, he started walking towards the forest.

Was he still there? Searching for a human that could show him the way out? It wouldn't hurt to visit once again - after all, this time he was more than strong enough to defeat, destroy, even _subdue_ him.

"Sensei! Don't you dare!"

Next to the path he was walking on, three teenagers played in the grass like children. One came up to him in order to grab a really fat cat (it _probably_ was a cat), that apparently had stolen a bag of snacks like some raccoon.

Not really knowing why (knowing exactly why), the young man stopped, waited a moment. Once the boy had picked up the cat, their eyes met.

 _I knew it._ So the spirit was strong enough to be seen by other humans as well?

Recognizing him, either for who or for what he was, the white-haired froze.

This time there was no arrogance in those eyes, just pure fear, a silent supplication even.

"Natsume! What's going on, do you know this person?"

The other two came running to the spirit's side, stepping in front of him, as if to shield him.

Wasn't the boy the new priest's son? And who was the girl? 

But that didn't really matter right now, far more interesting was the look in the spirit's eyes. The humans had no idea, none at all! How would these two react if they knew? He could show them, right here right now!

It was all in his hand, he could break this artificially life of this creature into a thousand pieces. If he wanted to.

"I don't know, do I?"

The cat in the demons arms began to grin maliciously - at least as maliciously as a cat could do - and snuggled a little closer to the white-haired.

When the girl wanted to pull him away cautiously and said that it should be possible to have some peace at least on his birthday, Seiji turned away with a laugh, could hear the yokai exhale.

The three moved away, leaving him alone with the sun - but the Matoba head didn't feel the least bit lonely, not in the slightest.

"Natsume, huh?"

He had forgotten the name throughout the years, to hear it once again made him feel like a child again, was funny in a strange way.

_Well, happy birthday then, Natsume. The next time we met, you will be mine._


	2. Chapter 2

Truth be told, Natsume would've never expected them to meet again.

The white-haired ayakashi had seen more in the past few years than most of his age. He had lost his parents when they took the audacity to attack the late master of the forest; along with all of their subordinates. It hadn't been a bad plan in itself, they had just made one crucial mistake: They had heavily underestimated the power of the ayakashi.

And he had eaten them all.

Natsume only survived because he'd sneaked away with two other children on that day to play in the human's playground (back then: his playground). When he finally came back home in the evening, prepared to get into a lot of well deserved trouble, his parents' murderer had been already waiting for him.

He could still remember exactly how he'd trembled in front of the huge, fox-like beast, could hardly keep himself on his feet.

At that moment his life should have ended. And he could swear that he had never been as close to death as back then.

Fortunately, the ayakashi had changed his mind at the last moment.

Had grabbed him with his paw just like that and announced loudly that he would be his student from now on.

Why Sensei hadn't just eaten him as well (not that he'd ever been stupid enough to ask), remained a mystery to the white-haired, who, right now, was just about to add the name of his defeated opponent to his collection.

Perhaps it had been compassion that had led the other to spare him, turn him into an ayakashi instead of eating him.

But just from noticing how his master had sometimes stared at him when he'd been drunk, he now believed that it also had something to do with another human; possibly someone he looked similar to in some sort of way, or something like that.

(Unfortunately or not, almost all the data about his family had been destroyed in the fire at that time. Not that he had really searched for it anyway.)

Sensei had taught him a lot. For one, that nothing tasted better than a defeated opponent. Or, that it was always better to provoke than to be provoked. Or (and his master was especially proud of that lesson), that it was wise to just bow without any resistance to the will of a stronger one.

Not that his master would care what the white-haired was doing, now, that he was finally free of the other's claws.

Natsume shook his head, put the name away without reading it. Thinking of the old cat wouldn't bring him back either. He wouldn't want him to get back anyway, why should he? He would enjoy his freedom in all its might from now on!

Still, it felt so strange in his chest when he saw his teacher's tombstone sparkling far away. (It gaped like a throne between the trees, just like this extravagant creature would've loved.)

The pain, for some odd reason was even worse than the one Taki had caused when she told him that she was now officially together with Tanuma, the person she had apparently known since childhood (what a coincidence, there was someone else who met this condition as well!).

It had made him angry to feel such pain that he couldn't quite understand at all. He had felt terribly betrayed by Taki at the moment, but at the same time did not understand _why_ he'd felt betrayed.

In response to that unknown, cruel feeling, he had wished them good luck (he had meant it. Somehow, that made it worse) and immediately deleted all memories of him, did the same thing to all other humans who had known him by now.

(Even if he'd almost hesitated when it came to that human couple he had stayed with. People, who'd really cared for him, people, whom he'd probably just caused nothing but problems while taking advantage of their undeserved kindness. Saying goodbye to them had only increased the pain, because he knew that he wouldn't be seeing them ever again.)

Later, when he'd already given up his short, 6-year life as a human and returned to the forest with Sensei, the answer became finally clear: He had fallen in love with the girl!

Still angry with himself, Natsume threw a stone over the lake and let it crash into a tree with all its might. He threw another one.

Why hadn't he just gone back the same day? Of course, he was indebted to her, but despite everything, he was still a proud, powerful ayakashi! He could have made her his. He _should_ have made her his! But he had just ran away cowardly.

And then, Sensei had died.

Before he could achieve the only two important goals in his life; finding his true love and defeating/killing his master in a battle (to finally get free, to really let out all the suppressed resentment against this monster), a human being had preceded him and Sensei had passed away in a quiet, peaceful manner.

The tree collapsed on the next throw, falling over and burying the white haired under a hard blanket of wood and leaves.

"Bend to the will of a stronger one, huh?", he said bitterly, hissing the words like he wanted to insult someone. "Then congratulations, tree, I have just recognized you as stronger and will bow to your will."

Tired of himself and everything, the demon decided to just lie there. If he kept motionless long enough, then even without his powers, the tree would certainly start growing around him, trapping him in its roots bit by bit. Would he feel it? Would that be painful? Would Taki marry Tanuma one day under the leaves of this fallen tree then?

"Natsume-sama."

The wish to become nutrition to a plant was forgotten at once. the white-haired threw the tree aside and found himself right in front the horse-like ayakashi.

"Mizusu."

He was still in a bad mood, but he knew that his servant (he was one of the first demons whose name he had won in battle) would only show himself at a time like _that_ if anything was going on in the forest.

"What's happening?"

"Exorcists are hunting for the master of this place, you have to get into safety."

Natsume sighed. He was a real celebrity among the ayakashi by now, but lately more and more humans seemed to find out about his existence too. Then, once he realized that Sensei had been dealing with something like this every day, he felt bad. (And couldn't understand, _why_.)

"Take me to them, Mizusu. I'll relieve them of their oh so useful tools."

His servant made a face as if he wanted to protest. It was exactly the opposite of what he'd suggested, after all. He obeyed anyway, as he should do.

For some time now, Natsume had made it his personal pleasure to offer opponents whom he had beaten, a choice: They would either be his servants from now on, or he would do the same as his master and make them his snack. (Sometimes, if he really liked one of the demons, he decided without their consent. Those really were the most entertaining ones.)

Most of the time, the ayakashi understood that he wasn't kidding.

Sometimes, they thought he was just a very brazen human. Which had almost cost him his life when he was just as weak as he (still) looked.

Even though it hurt to think about it, the white-haired remembered far too well how he'd accidentally collapsed in someone's garden due to the enormous loss of blood. 

How a small child had been there out of nowhere, staring at him like he was... an ayakashi. She hadn't screamed. She'd immediately run to him, helped him up and brought him inside her house. She'd taken care of his wounds (she had tried at least), brought him water and asked how he felt.

She'd actually asked him all kinds of strange things, why he was full of blood and why he was wearing such old clothes, if he was a yokai and why she could still see him.

He, who'd known of humans basically nothing, had truthfully said that he was a demon who had just fought other demons. Stupid as he ~~was~~ had been, the white-haired had added how tasty they were.

Taki had cried. A lot. For him, who had already forgotten how to cry, it was as if someone had slit his throat, he suddenly couldn't breathe at all.

Right, in his panic, he had promised to do everything if she would stop crying. (Maybe he'd even begged her, he didn't really know.) And what had this kind, lovely girl wished for?!

"We are here-"

The white-haired jumped off, landed quietly and elegantly on the floor. It would have been nice if everyone would've stopped talking when he arrived - but the exorcists paid little to no attention to him, as did their shiki. They continued their hunt for the master of the forest, searching trough and terrorizing everything in their way. Since he was still ignored, he angrily reached for one of the shiki (he wasn't in a very good mood at the moment).

"Who is attacking _my_ forest? Which human clan dares to do that?! "

Sadly, it took the shiki a while to realize that it was being attacked by an _ayakashi_. Once realization hit it, it pointed his finger shakily in the direction of a human with a black umbrella, who, tough standing with his back to him, seemed to radiate calmness and control. Sighing another time, Natsume threw the spirit away.

With two movements of his hand, he let huge tendrils shoot out from the trees, wrapping themselves around humans and their servants alike, almost crushing them in the process. Oh, how he would have loved to tighten the roots - but he didn't want to break his promise.

"I will ask again",

now that everyone around him was silent (paralyzed either due to shock or fear) and he was given the deserved attention, the angry face of the white-haired turned back into a grin,

"What are you doing here in my forest?"

"Let us down, Natsume. One can hardly breathe under the pressure of these things."

The voice belonged to a man with black hair, who seemed strangely familiar to him. It was a little confusing because an eye patch adorned his face. The fallen umbrella next to him showed, that it was the leader of the group, but there was another memory as well...

"You're the Matoba brat from back then!"

He was so startled by the realization, that the tendrils around the other actually loosened a little, just enough so that the black-haired man could free himself from them.

It would have been easy to catch him again, but his face alone was enough to bring Natsume back to that day.

The happiest and worst of his life.

Before the man could speak again, he grabbed him by his throat, pulled him down (the human was taller than him by now), tore off his eye patch. Such a week being shouldn't smile at him so cheekily when it had nothing better to offer than this! Such a human, such a little brat was responsible for that?! He'd been dragged out of his mourning for _that_?!

"This forest is mine. Someone who dares to damage it is usually doomed to die."

"Let go of me."

The boy was still giving him orders as if he had the absolute right to do so. Was he still that stupid?

Hissing in annoyance, Natsume threw the human aside and called for Mizusu once again.

Perhaps he would have submitted to him for a while _if_ the march into his territory had been a little more glamorous. More threatening. So that he would have had an actual reason to serve a meek creature like that. But even so, the fear he had seen in the eyes of that human in the forest back then, the sake of his home that Sensei had seemed to enjoy so much, all of that...

Despite being the one that had shoved him to the ground in the first place, he held out his hand to help the other up.

"But since you're here anyway; come and have a drink with me, Matoba."

All of that were memories he liked, even if they hurt in the end. And since he had to spare the other's life anyway, he could just as well listen to what he had to say, make fun of it a little before sending him and his people away (he would still eat their shiki, though).

Matoba's hand started to move, slowly, as if shivering a bit. But instead of letting himself be pulled up as expected, he pulled the demon down, took a swing and hit him with full force in the face.

A familiar, almost forgotten pain spread across his cheek, becoming worse with every passing moment, due to the spiritual power put into it. Normally, Natsume would've simply stopped the blow, laughed at the person's courage (it wasn't the first punch thrown at him, it wouldn't be the last) for daring to do that, but this one had really taken him by surprise.

And apparently, the man who pressed a (rather familiar) knife directly to his throat right after the blow, knew that, was prepared for it. The blade shimmered reddish in the dull sunlight - Natsume instinctively _knew_ that this time it would only take a single cut to end his existence. He didn't knew why, he just _knew_. He stilled, didn't move.

"Order your flowers to retreat."

The black-haired pushed the knife a bit closer, a mocking undertone in his voice.

Natsume just sighed, complied. Served him right, he shouldn't have underestimated him immediately.  
Just as ordered, his dinner and all those who had brought it to him were free again seconds later; surrounding their master like obedient dogs.

"Kneel."

The other definitely wanted to humiliate him with this. Humiliation was a kind of provocation after all, just a little rough in style.  
He slowly sank to the floor, careful to keep his face. He couldn't kill the boy, under no circumstances. So he didn't need to show how much he wanted to right now.

His head was... patted? Taki had done it once to him and he knew he had turned red like autumn leaves from the gesture. He often did it with defeated opponents too, but with a completely different intend. He did his best to suppress a growl.

"Good boy. Chain him down and bring him to the car. The hunt seems to have been successful."

"Natsume-sama-"

Oh, he had forgotten about his servant. Since he'd decided to deal with this situation himself, he just shook his head, ordered him away. Mizusu couldn't deal with those humans without hurting them too much, and that would go against his promise.

"Take care of the forest, Mizusu."

As his servant vanished again without being noticed by anyone, the white-haired was brought out of the forest on several ropes.

He kept growing flowers around the legs of his escort, enjoying how they desperately tried to keep their balance time and time again. He didn't worry (care) about enraging them, as they would never dare to get close enough to hit him or do anything else.

His brief pleasure was interrupted when he was pushed into the black thing (a car), ropes turning into paper. As far as he knew, exorcists had power to put ayakashi into tiny vessels. Why hadn't that been done to him yet?

The other also got in, smiled at him as if he were the guest of honor, not the prisoner. Admittedly, the human child would've felt exactly the same in his mansion.

"It's been a long time, Natsume. 9? 12 years maybe?"

"How am I supposed to know that? For beings like me, time means nothing. Compared to your pathetic lifespan, we are immortal!"

Right. Taki had grown up so quickly, it felt like only a few days had passed. Since humans all aged equally quickly, the demon believed that he saw the traces of age on the other too. It brought a grin onto his face.

"So you didn't take care of your eyes, despite what I told you."

The shackles on his hands started to get on his nerves, they disrupted the flow of his blood. The fact that only an exorcist could remove the strips of paper (which hurt like a thousand needles) made it even worse.

Matoba reflexively held a hand to his blindfolded eye. (The temptation to eat it was there, he could feel it. That was what happened to those who broke promises. It would haunt the clan probably forever.) Then he took it down and laughed, as if they were two old friends, familiar with each other.

"I guess you're right. But why remind me of it now? I could kill you at any time, what gives you the impulse to irritate me?"

This person provoked him again. ~~(Or maybe he really was just asking.)~~ Perhaps that was the repayment for when he almost killed him. ~~(Perhaps it was just a question.)~~ Not that the demon regretted it, he still had the taste of the blood on his tongue. Mirroring the human, he laughed too.

"You, killing me? As if, wasn't your plan to bring be back in order to try and force me in a contract with you?"

Maybe his goal was to own him so he could finally be free of the memory from that day. Maybe, he needed help once again. Maybe something else. He still laughed, couldn't talk properly due to his own amusement. (It overplayed the anger and pain in him to some extent, was actually quite pleasant.)

"However, I can save you a lot of anger and despair in the first place: No matter what you do, Matoba sprout, it's futile."

"...We'll see about that. By the way, Taki Tooru will marry soon."

...

With that he had him.

The grin vanished from the demon's face, he growled at him, enraged. Like a wild beast might do. Amused by this behavior, Seiji leaned forward a little, intentionally invading the others space.

"It would be a shame if a bad accident happened to her at the wedding, wouldn't it?"

The growling stopped immediately. The white-haired turned away scolding, avoided to look at him again.

Not that he was going to let him get away with it so easily. He'd repaid the other already with not doing anything the last time they'd seen each other, even though that was against every principle of an exorcist. (A dangerous yokai, that played human, deceiving children? The first thing one would exorcise.) This time he would make sure that this creature would beg him on its knees to become his servant.

Since his guest had finally decided to remain silent, Seiji talked a little about the past years, which he had spent with turning his clan's old norms upside down. Although the white-haired occasionally made a derogatory comment on his ways to deal with things, he didn't seem to dare to stare at him directly anymore.

Seiji had no idea whether the girl (it had been a real pain to find out her name, that was for sure) he'd been talking about would marry, nor was he interested in doing anything to her - but the Yokai didn't have to know that.

And so the short journey full of memories came at last to an end. The demon didn't resist when he was violently dragged out of the car by the clan-members. He didn't let flowers or roots sprout anymore (what an amazing power indeed), kept his eyes down.

 _If only everyone were as easy to tame as this one_ , Seiji thought with a smile, climbed out as well, satisfied with the day. Everything could have ended so perfectly. He could've destroyed the pride of this arrogant being and thereby (finally) won over a powerful servant.

Unfortunately, in all the hustle and bustle, the black-haired had forgotten to renew the seal on his blindfold, which the demon had destroyed earlier in its tantrum.

And that was exactly what ruined everything.

"Give it to me! My eye - GIVE IT TO ME!"

Out of nowhere, faster than the eye could see, it came. In no time his servants were pushed aside, the monster made his way to him, reached out for him. With the calmness one gained once they had adjusted with the kind of life they lived in, Seiji drew his knife, rammed it into the part of the spirit that would have been the belly of people.

It was meant as a warning, but that only seemed to make the yokai angrier, he struck even more wildly, shoved Natsume together with his guards to the ground, reached for him again.

"You cheated on me! CHEATED! I WILL EAT YOU MATOBA, YOU AND ALL YOUR FOLLOWERS!"

He was ready for the attack, aimed at the heart this time. He hadn't eliminated the creature till now, because it was more useful alive. But this time he hadn't a choice, couldn't afford the danger. Such a waste. The black-haired missed, was able to avoid the sharp claws, but lost his balance during the process and landed face down on the hard ground. Right in front of the still chained yokai.

"...You've gotten stronger, I'll admit it. But you're still no more than a little brat, Matoba. Now get rid of this, then I may take away the ayakashi for you, as an act of leniency towards a child."

He held out his wrists to him expectantly, waited. He no longer spoke condescendingly, still tamed by the threat, but his words had a finality to them, left no room for negotiation. Seiji didn't even think about it, felt new strength gathering in him. He smiled.

"The shackles can only be released by the exorcist who put them on. There is only one way to get rid of them and you know it. Submit to me and become my servant."

Would the other growl again? He hadn't much time to check that, the monster tried to grab him again, but was prevented from doing so by a tendril, growing through the asphalt of the street. He could hear Natsume hiss in annoyance (he really had a lot of human features), was rolled to the side again shortly afterwards.

"Are you tired of living, Matoba?! Now hurry and get rid of them!"

"Become my servant."

Once again, the white-haired pulled him away, didn't seem to have any problems avoiding the other yokai and speaking at the same time.

"Maybe I should team up with the ayakashi. Cut your tongue off, torture you until you fulfill my wish and then watch as the rest of you is eaten."

Narrowed fox eyes looked at him, seeming to consider the suggestion.

Perhaps this fact made the human's heart beat a little faster, remembering the hands around his throat at once. Maybe a part of him wished he had released the other immediately. Nevertheless, he continued to smile, because this time he wouldn't give in to something pathetic as the fear of pain. Everything was going to be fine. And if not, that that would be his fate, there wasn't more to it.

Whether he deserved it or not, he was lucky. Pulling them away another time, the demon sighed, shook his head.

"Fine! Matoba, I agree to your condition, now get rid of these, damn it!"

The yokai's words should have satisfied him. They didn't, the feeling of relief was just too overtaking. He had been really afraid, huh?

The seal of his clan appeared on the demon's forehead, causing him to hiss in pain. The shackles were destroyed with a shimmering light and the yokai immediately jumped at the other, a grin on his face that was nothing but absolutely insane.

He would probably take all his anger out on it now. Seiji almost felt sorry for the monster that had given him nightmares for years.

It, finally having found a way out of the countless roots, could only shout "WHO?", before it was already brought to the ground by the human-like demon, gradually mutilated completely by his nails, which seemed to be sharper than claws. It went on for minutes, didn't stop until the creature couldn't move anymore, lied whimpering on the floor.

Satisfied, Natsume leaned back at last, raised a finger directly against the other's hollow eye socket.

"Who I _am_ , you ask? I am Natsume, former student of Madara, master of this forest, owner of the Book of Friends and the temporary servant of the boy whose eye you desire so much."

He stabbed into the hole, just grinning even wider at the following outcry. Madara. Where had he heard the name before?

"You will release the Matoba blood of the curse, right now. And then, you'll give me your name if you don't want to end up as my meal."

Without any hesitation at all, the yokai wrote its name on a part of its clothing, tore it off, and handed it to Natsume. Laughing, he put it away, got off of the one-eyed. "Get out of my sight~", he hummed far too cheerfully, didn't even bother to watch his new subordinate follow his will.

Instead, the white-haired turned in his direction, bowing in a mockery of respect.

_Dangerous. Strong and dangerous._

"You have my absolute obedience for now, master. I will follow your orders and protect your life. But only as long, as Taki Tooru is alive and well. So you'd do well if she dies after you. Because even the age", he was in front of the black-haired in a moment, holding him in place and running his tongue smugly over his neck, "cannot spoil the taste of a wonderful meal."

Before Seiji could hit him (out of anger or instinct, he couldn't tell), the demon bowed another time, laughed and walked away, letting flowers bloom out of nowhere as if he were a god.

"Well then, the contract doesn't prohibit me from moving freely yet. If you need me, don't hesitate to call my name. Until then, don't get eaten!"

Perhaps, the black-haired thought to himself, as he watched the other disappear into the forest again, this yokai with his might was really not so far from a god. He abandoned the thought immediately though, because no servant of him would get that kind of adornment. He would call his name later, to let him clean this mess up, that much was clear.

"Are you all right?"

Nanase, covered in mud, was on her feet again, appeared to have suffered no further damage from the incident. As had the other of his followers, who hadn't lifted a single finger to help with the situation, for some odd reason. Seiji smiled wearily. Sometimes things just shouldn't be the way he would like them to be. But well, who cared. Natsume was his now anyway.

"Everything is fine. As it seems, I don't need to deal with the one-eyed anymore. Say Nanase, do you still know Taki?"

"The girl who's name you were obsessed with finding out for almost a month?"

"Yes. Do you think she will marry soon?"

The question earned him a look of sincere _concern_ , followed by a stern "I don't think so. Why, did something woke your interest again?"

"More or less. Ah, please arrange a meeting with Natori. It has been 4 years since the argument, he should be out of his rebellious phase by now."

"You know how stubborn he is. Are you sure?"

Was he sure?

"I have a really interesting new servant that I want to show him. Who knows, maybe he is even powerful enough to take that lizard off of him."

He had wasted enough time devoting himself to work - rebuilding a few old relationships (skipping work, he had enough of it for a week) wouldn't hurt.


	3. Chapter 3

This time, it had to work.

This time, he would break the seal. Then, he would go to her wedding. He would show himself to her. Let go of his feelings at last, say goodbye to her.

After that, he would go back to his master and throw him in the next best pit.

 _That's exactly how it will be_ , the white-haired decided, as he jumped against the sealed door for the 100th time.

Oh how he envied Sensei for the power to simply dissolve seals of any kind. Even if this one was so weak, that he could've done that too. Actually, this one shouldn't have affected him at _all_.

He would throw his master into a fairly deep pit.

Of course, he would have to catch him in time (humans broke really quickly after all), but at least he could enjoy the shocked expression on his pale face. And that was really the least - how dare this human child just lock him up?!

Even after 1000 times, nothing happened to the door. He would be late if he couldn't get out, but the spell just didn't diminish, not even a bit. He started to growl in anger. What did his master think, locking him up here? Was he really that tired of life?

Because if he actually _missed_ the wedding, he would use all his strength (and everyone knew how strong he was) to make the human child (well, maybe not a child anymore) regret it.

"Matoba-sama! I don't know what I have done this time and I'm not sorry either! Now let me out!"

No answer. He couldn't even hear a malicious laugh behind the door like usual. That had to be a cruel joke... The demon sank wearily against the black piece of wood. It really wasn't the first time that this brat didn't consider it necessary to treat him with the respect he deserved.

Sealing him somewhere because of a comment, or a derogatory gesture, laughing when the ayakashi, who had freed himself, stood angry and growling in front of him again - that had already become a hateful routine.

Still, what had made the human this angry? His master was insolent, of course, but even he couldn't be so stupid!

"Just give it up boy, we can't get out of here."

An ayakashi, who had been in the shadows all the time (the white-haired had noticed, but hadn't bothered to speak to it) came forward, trying not to trip over its clothing. There was a pot on its head and it didn't seem to be able to get it off with its hands.

That didn't interest Natsume at all tough.

"What do you mean? Speak!"

"The seal on the door is renewed every day, though not from here. I can feel someone pulling out a brush from above and starting to write. We'll probably only get out of here once the door is completely rotten."

But he didn't have that much time! This human really had done it now!

After another approach full of kicks, he turned back to the pot-face, examined it more closely. Was that the ayakashi's head after all? Or was it really just stuck in one of those human vessels?

With a single movement of his hand, the pot jumped in two, revealing the face of the other. It wasn't exactly different. But it would distract him for a moment at least. He grinned.

"Well look at that, just as ugly as expected! Since I'm gracious right now, I'll let you live anyway. I want something for helping you! Give me your name!"

The other just stared at him, out of this hole that was supposed to be an eye. It kept silent, as if it was angry. Maybe the ugly pot had been his hat? To bad, he would have to let go of his name anyway. The ayakashi continued to stare at him, long enough to make him angry. He hadn't the time for that! It spoke before he could ignore it again, sounded unsure of itself.

"My name? Are you... Natsume Reiko?"

Reiko.

Reiko. Reiko. The name had escaped Sensei in his sleep often enough, he still vaguely remembered it. Was Reiko the person his old master had fallen in love with? Or an old friend perhaps? The reason why he had taken him in and raised him, the last survivor of the Natsume Clan?

But if Reiko had been a Natsume too, then why had the fox eaten the whole clan?!

"...I am Natsume. Master of the forest of Yatsuhara and owner of the book of friends. (He hated how weak that sounded. What was happening to him?) Now tell me who this Reiko is, before I tear you into pieces."

He held out his hand to the other (ignored the shaking), waited. The Ayakashi stared at him in silence, then sighed, like a human might do.

"Of course you're a Natsume. Despite all the rumors, your bloodline just won't perish, will it? I won't be able to give you my name, boy; one of your relatives has already taken it from me."

He was about to make good of his threat and attack (he was so angry. Why was he so angry?), when the other added, as if an idea had just come to its head; "But if you find it, we could both get out of here, my power can turn the door along with the seal into dust. The paper should be somewhere here."

As if he couldn't turn this door to ashes himself if not for this stupid seal! But fine, he would control himself for a while longer, Taki's wedding and teaching his master a lesson had priority. If all that it took for that was a simple name, he would find it.

He could ask Pot-Face about Reiko later, he absolutely had to go to Taki!

The white-haired spent a long time looking for a piece of paper with ink on it (he just knew that it would look like that), had to stop multiple times in order to gain his self control due to the comments the other would give from time to time, talking about his bloodline and the girl (so it had been a girl) like it'd wanted to do that for a long time. 

At last he found it, a small paper, full of ink. It had exactly the same size of those that were his, even tough the paper was much much older. How strange. Wasn't the book his idea? He held it into the other's face anyway, grinning.

"Yes boy, that is the one. Now you just need to-"

It was about to explain how he had to release it, but the white-haired didn't listen, just ordered it to crush the door. Despite the power and life-force it had to cost, the ayakashi obeyed, could not oppose the will of its new master.

Why he flew out of the room in the shape of a child didn't matter to him at the moment (he would take care of it later if necessary), all that mattered now was the wedding.

He had to be there before the ceremony was over, because once the beloved was already married, the feelings of an old love should never be revealed. (At least the woman he'd lived with once had told that. He believed it.)

Finding the place was far to easy, he would remember the scent of these two humans even after decades. But for some odd reason, the colors that adorned the hall into which he plunged - ignoring the startled noises the humans gave from them - were strangely dark.

Black curtains, black clothes, black tablecloths. All this made the cherry blossom rain, which he had brought with him when entering, only seem more impressive, more magnificent, so he didn't really mind.

But where was the bride? At least Taki should shine in a beautiful white right now, a smile bright and happy on her kind face. So why was she there in a box, completely covered, motionless and surrounded by crying people?

And why was Tanuma lying in a box next to her? What was that supposed to mean? Who in their right mind would marry like this?! His tiny hands were faster than his thoughts, had already started to destroy the first box, ready to scream at them to wake up.

They were stopped in their doing by even smaller hands.

"D-don't you d-dare! Y-you mustn't hurt mom and dad! Not more than the car did!"

Natsume was about to throw the human out of his way, but her scent stopped him, let him go completely limp. What had she just called Taki? Mom? And what did she mean by hurting? Was Taki sick? Did the car make her sick? He wouldn't be surprised by that, cars were horrible, after all. Maybe he should ask how to make her well again?

A woman grabbed the girl before he could say something, tried to drag her away from the boxes.

"Sasada-san, calm _down_ already! What you see is not real, you should have taken your pills! You stupid brat cause nothing but problems!"

The demon had reflexively caught the old woman's hand, preventing her from reaching the girl's cheek. Stupid human, how dare she interrupt him in a conversation?! But no matter what, he wouldn't eat anyone, especially not at Taki's wedding.

After all, he always kept his promises.

The woman started screaming, flapping wildly in the air, as if possessed by some spirit. She didn't _see_ him? Since when were mere humans no longer able to _see_ him?! Using the opportunity, the girl started to run, her eyes full of tears. He immediately leaved the startled woman and stormed after the child with the same smell as Taki. Maybe it was the daughter? Surely she could tell him what had happened to her parents, why they were in those boxes - he couldn't let her escape!

Surprisingly, the hunt for a child was way harder than expected. The little thing was damn fast, evaded all of the flowers and tendrils of him, ran straight to the next best shrine as if that had already happened a hundred times.

If he were an ordinary yokai, he would have lost now. The spiritual power that shrines emanated was purifying for a demon, unbearable. (Of course she knew that, Tanuma was the son of a priest.)

The white-haired cared very little about that when he raced through the shrine, stopped right in front of the girl. Ignoring the soft whimper, he reached for her shaking hands again and looked her straight in the eyes.

 _"You have pretty eyes"_ , Taki once said. _"You could make people do everything with those eyes."_

"Are you Taki's child? I mean, was the gi- woman in the box your mother?"

After some time, the whimpering died down, the brown haired just cried silently, looking away from him. Why was she so sad? Was she still afraid of him? He didn't like to see her cry, the picture reminded him too much of earlier times. Humans really grew old so quickly...

"Hey, hey, everything is fine, I won't harm you, I promise! But can you tell me what happened to Ta- your mother, Sasada?"

Still crying, she slowly looked back at his face. Then she slapped his hands away, took a few steps back.

"I'm not a Sasada! I'm Jun, Jun Tanuma, no matter what all of you say! So what if my parents were older than others when I was born, I'm still their child! I'm still..."

She was about to fall, too many emotions flowing through her tiny body. He caught her, just to be pushed away again with a surprising amount of strength.

"My parents are dead! Dead, you hear me?! A car crush, probably because of me and this stupid ability! And if you're just another yokai enjoying other people's sufferings, then- "

Right, by now her name would be Tanuma Tooru. Stealing one's name, just to replace it with their own, had always been a thing for humans. But what had she meant with old parents? What did that matter? And what had her ability to see spirits to do with that?

Natsume pondered over the words of the brown-haired while she was busy gazing at a cherry tree overgrown with roses that had come out of nowhere. Hinoe said that girls loved flowers. Taki's daughter, at least, seemed to be distracted by his work. Dead. They had died away while he had been trying to get to them. He controlled his anger for now, concentrated.

"Why were you in the car to begin with?"

"W-why should I tell you?! Who are you even?! You come to the funeral of my parents, disturbing everyone and letting it look like I've gone insane, have you no shame?!"

She was angry, rightfully so, he understood her anger - he also begun to understand why she still shivered before him, because on second thought, growing a tree inside a building might look not so beautiful to a child that had to deal with the horror that spirits could bring to those who could see.

"My name is Natsume. I am - a friend of your parents, Jun."

He made full use of the voice his child appearance gave him, tried to look as none-threatening as possible. She still seemed suspicious of him, as she should be of a stranger. ~~Even if it hurt.~~

"But you are a yokai! How could they even _see_ you, let alone become your friends? Where were you when the yokai pushed us down the cliff?! Where were you?!"

_I was locked up._

Locked up like cattle in a cage. He shook the rage away immediately, forced the words down at once. _Yokai_. The incident was caused by a spirit, the child had seen the one that had killed his friends. That would be useful - if she remembered it.

"The last time I heard anything from your parents was on their wedding-day. Before I could see them, I was sealed by an exorcist. I freed myself today and wanted to visit your family."

She had stopped shaking by now and he counted that as his win. Though she still looked angry and afraid.

"But they married before I was born! That was 12 years ago!"

So he had been down there for _twelve_ years? Human lives passed by so quickly that it was just regrettable. Hopefully his master was still alive. After all, a feast had to be alive when it was prepared.

After the funeral was over, he would order that the boxes (caskets were they called, weren't they?) were brought to _his_ garden - a place far more worthy of them. Since the daughter seemed to have a place in the human world, he would find out what she knew and then bring her back to her people.

He smiled, kindly, without showing his teeth. He was still raging inside, had to fight down the urge to scream.

"I was sealed for some time, it seems. And I'm truly sorry, that I disturbed the funeral like that."

Silence. The flowers around the tree bloomed despite his best efforts, but she didn't seem afraid of them anymore. They were beautiful after all. Then, after some time, she spoke again, quiet, as if not wanting to be heard at all.

"We have been on the way to someone... who might've helped with... me."

An _exorcist_. They'd been on the way to an _exorcist_.

"Who? Do you know the name?"

She hesitated a moment, wanted to look away, didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to bring the person into trouble - names had power after all, he knew that far to well. But as sharp as she was, she was just a child, a sad, weeping child. His eyes did the final push.

"Natori Shuuichi. My parents had known him for a long time and originally he had wanted to help way sooner, but he had problems as well so..."

Natori. The offspring of the Natori Clan, who seemed to be the only competent friend/subordinate his master had ever had. Because of her gift/curse to see, Taki and Tanuma wanted to go with her to the exorcist, were pushed down a cliff by an ayakashi. One of Natoris? No, he wasn't that stupid, wouldn't dare. Besides, in contrast to most exorcists, he was actually nice to humans. But what about his servants?

"What kind of problems? Please tell me."

She wanted to stop talking, wanted to continue grieving for what should've never been taken from her and he would let her. But he needed the information. He could rearrange her memory after that, to let her grieve in piece.

"Uhm... apparently, a friend of him had been lost for some time already, and he wanted to find him at all cost-"

"The name of the friend, do you know it?"

"Why do you want to know that? What does it matter to you-"

He caught her hands again, held them, relived when they didn't begun to struggle or shake. "Please Jun. Can you tell me the name of the friend?"

"...I think it was Matoba. B-but I'm not sure myself, I could be totally wrong!"

So probably not something with the servants. Why would he have to look for his master though? Since when had the brat been missing? (Even if it were better for the human if he were as far away from him as possible, because now he would no longer show any mercy.)

"I see. Can you remember what the yokai that caused all this looked like?"

It probably was cruel of him to ask her to remember something she should forget as soon as possible, but it would be in her favor in the end. He would hunt it down and get rid of it immediately. After another moment of silence, she nodded, tired and eager to be done with all of this, so she could cry later in peace.

The brown-haired described the spirit as a large, one-eyed something, all in black, screaming something she couldn't understand at that time. Natsume didn't need more, knew exactly, what ayakashi _that_ had been.

"Thank you. Now let me take you back to your loved ones-"

Slowly, not wanting to startle her any more, he let go of one of her hands, smiled down at her, ready to change her memories of their meetings. Brown eyes were fixed on him in an instant, anger and sadness still present, making him hesitate. Natsume felt like Taki was standing in front of him - a cruel way to remind him of his mistake.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't need you to take me back. I want to stay here, for a while."

That sounded like a really bad idea. He wasn't going to leave her here. Why would she want to stay? She would miss the chance to say goodbye if she stayed any longer. (And some ayakashi in this area might become aware of her. They liked to mess with humans and he hadn't the time to get rid of every single one of them.)

"Why would you want to stay? The others will start to worry-"

"No. No, they will not. Thank you for your concern, but you can go now."

The girl crossed her arms, looked away. He was about to just take her back anyway, but paused. The woman's hand shot through his head again, he begun to understand.

"The woman before wanted to raise her hand against you, didn't she? Who was that?"

They hadn't the same blood, it hadn't been a family member.

"What does it matter? Please just go!"

Now that he thought about it, besides from Taki, Tanuma and their daughter, there hadn't been anyone with the same smell in the black room. What had happened to the priest and the cat lunatic? And Taki's parents? Ignoring the plea of the child, he stayed, went on with questioning, soft and kind. An idea had formed itself in his mind, becoming clearer with every word that he got out of Taki's child, bit by bit.

Her grandparents were already gone (so he really had been in the servitude of Matoba for some time), age taking them away just like that. And even tough her uncle was still alive, he had a family of his own, lived overboard and she didn't want to bring her problems into his household.

Natsume purred (he had turned into a cat in the mean time, used the non-threatening look to calm her down a little), snuggled himself against her hand, thinking over his decision through every of her tears, again and again.

"Tell me, Jun, do you like this human life?"

Those who could see would always have troubles with ayakashi, no matter what they would try. It was a given, that a normal human life was rather impossible. ~~(Why was he so sure of that?)~~ If the priest had still been alive, he would've let her return, but as it was now? How could he possibly let her go back to someone that would treat her like that?

"W-what do you mean?"

He would take her away. Away from those filthy humans who would hit a child. Take her with him, to his estate - to a home that would welcome her, no matter what.

"If you don't want to cause any more troubles for those who you love, why not come with me? My property is huge, the garden infinite and full of flowers. You'd wish for nothing."

She winced, stopped petting him. Did she like these people after all, was scared that he would take her away with force? Did she think he was just trying to outsmart her?

"I don't want back to that woman. But I can't come with you. They will be forced to worry if I stay away too long."

But now she started to cry again, sobbed silently. Ah, she was right, humans didn't like it when children disappeared. By now, even he knew that.

"I can make it so that they will forget you-"

"No! Please don't harm them!"

He was grabbed, shaken trough, again and again while the brown-haired went on with her plead, as if he was some cruel, mischievous spirit. And while seeing her plead like that, his plan crumbled immediately, he gave up.

"Calm down, I wasn't going to harm anyone. And I'm not forcing you, Jun. If you want to stay with those humans, I will respect that wish."

"So... you won't harm them?"

"No. I will not. Though I can't see the reason to live where no one cares about you. I will accompany you from now on."

"...I don't think the woman likes cats-"

"Don't worry about the details. Now, will you let me bring you back?"

"I can walk just fine! But you can come along, I guess."

Bringing her back (letting himself be carried back by her, she didn't want to let go. He was fine with it, of course he was fine with it.) and staying at the side of his new warden, was rather easy. Then, when the woman wanted to drag her away, saying it was time to go, the doors opened up once again, crashing against the walls, due to too mush force.

Oh. So the cat lunatic did come after all. Even if Natsume wouldn't have been able to recognize him if not for the familiar scent. Taki's brother really had aged quite a bit too.

The man said his goodbyes to his sister and her husband (he cried, but wiped away the tears immediately), before snatching Jun away from the woman with a sad smile (the older let him, looking away), sitting down with her outside of the building.

They talked for a while, about old times and the fact that the man almost never came to visit, while the white cat sat next to them letting himself be patted and watching the surroundings. The talking and laughing died down after a while, the two humans sat next to each other, watched as the sun settled behind the trees in the forest, bit by bit until it was gone. Then, the man spoke at last.

"You can come back with me, Jun-chan. America may not be the most idealistic place and the language will be quite difficult to learn, but I think you will manage just fine. Besides, have you seen the old hag? Her scary look? No way I'm letting you stay with her, sickness will be damned."

America? A good idea, there weren't as much spirits around there. And it wouldn't be for long anyway, sadly. Jun looked at her uncle as if she couldn't believe him. Then she nodded slowly, still patting him.

"Can I take the cat with me?"

Natsume was about to speak up, tell her she didn't need to worry about the details, when he was grabbed, squeezed hard enough to force the words out of his throat. Taki's brother laughed.

"I wouldn't mind, even if you wanted to bring an entire zoo to my home. It has become quiet there anyway, so why not? Now, let's go and try to convince Sasada-san, hopefully she won't eat us."

For some (very) odd reason, the suggestion made Jun laugh. They made their way back to the room (once again), talked to the woman that couldn't agree faster, made them both laugh even more (he couldn't understand why. But the sound was nice enough, so it didn't matter.)

"We will fly back in 3 days. Will you... still come along?"

"Of course. Now sleep."

Once she was asleep, the white cat got up from the place next to her, disappeared trough the window. His presence alone should have been enough for the weak ones to not try anything and with her sleeping, nothing should happen. Well, he wouldn't take long anyway.

Because before he would leave this ground, he needed to settle a few things. He soon noticed how a grin had crept onto his still too tiny lips, while he flew trough the night, searching.

The only thing left to do now was to call the treacherous ayakashi responsible for this and find his kidnapped master in order to eat him, along with his whole, treacherous clan.   
Sensei would probably turn around of laughter in his grave if he had known about this. Natsume sighed, shook his head.

Stupid cat.


End file.
